It’s hard to believe that another month has come and gone, and the Christmas Holiday is nearly upon us. In order to alleviate undue Holiday pressure, I will attempt to keep this month’s article extremely short, however, I will leave you with a few statistics that will need your attention during the next month. Most of these statistics come from the Reuters News Agency, London. For those of you that have been following my monthly article know that I am a big, or shall say a huge proponent of the use of video in Gospel Music. It is also no secret that I am ½ owner of a music and video production company. According to Reuters, a swing-to-growth in U.S. album sales and surging consumption of music on DVD has helped to slow the decline in recorded music sales. Music Video Sales grew more than 20% during the first half of 2004; that’s up from 7.2% just 18 months ago. Now some of you have already begun to read between the lines, and are saying, yes those figures don’t really apply to Southern Gospel Music. Well, maybe you’re right, but let’s look at it this way, if video/DVD sales are increasing in other genres of music, then why shouldn’t we follow suit and jump on that bandwagon as well. Sometimes, we don’t give our fan base enough credit. We say that they don’t even own DVD or CD Players that they don’t use MP3s, or they don’t even know what Satellite Radio is. I say, our fan base is extremely knowledgeable in all of the areas I just mentioned; so why not supply the demand.

Here are a couple more points of interest that you should ponder prior to opening that favorite Christmas gift or eating all of those holiday treats. First, psychological studies show people remember over 70% of what they see and hear combined. Yet only about 30% will remember what they hear only. Nearly every week churches all across America are beginning to utilize the use of multimedia in their worship services. After all, video can enhance sermons, music, drama, and other forms of ministry and can even inform congregations on issues facing the church and families today.

Videos Can:

Inspire Worship – Just as the lyric to a song can inspire true worship in our hearts, images of creation or things that God has done can even paint a much broader picture

Stir the Spiritual Imagination – When we see a teaching or an illustration in a story applied to a story (or song) it spurs our imagination towards ways that it can be applied in our own lives

Increase Song Retention – As I’ve previously mentioned, the retention rate is astronomical when a message is both seen and heard. Seeing a visual application of what is being taught can be a powerful and memorable experience.

Well it looks like this is a plate full for you to digest over this Holiday Season and while most are winding down their year, we at the offices of J & D Multimedia are under tight deadlines to have produced a series of television commercials, a video press kit, and yet another concept video for a soon-to-be nationally recognized Christian Recording Artist.

Although we’re busy, I’d love to hear from you as you plan the next season in your career.

Happy Holidays!

And remember, I’ll keep the lights on and the camera rolling!

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